Strathmore showcase weekend

Times Editor

 

Strathmore has been awarded the first-ever Alberta Midget Hockey League (AMHL) Showcase Weekend later this fall.

The midget triple-A hockey league, in which the local UFA Bisons participate, will ditch the annual all-star game in favour of the showcase weekend.

“In the long run, we felt as a league, that the all-star game wasn’t accomplishing what we wanted it to,” said Bisons Manager Wayne Hansen. “It’s not truly an all-star game because we don’t have the Top 40 players in our league there. It takes valuable scheduling time away from our league, in an already short season for us.”

So instead, the league will bring all 18 teams to Strathmore for the Showcase Weekend on Nov. 10-11 and play two regular season games each as part of their 2012-2013 schedule.

There will be nine games played each day, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Strathmore Family Centre and finishing at about 10:30 p.m. Both ice surfaces at the arena will be used to showcase every team in the league.

“This is a way to showcase our league – which we consider to be the premier triple-A midget hockey league in Canada – to our fans and also to the scouts,” said Hansen. “It gives our kids a chance to show their (talents) – whether they’ve been drafted or whether they’re on someone’s list (to be drafted) – to show what they have.

“It’s not very often that kids at this age can get that many (scouts) all in one place. The Mac’s Tournament is a classic example of something like that, but for our league alone, this is big for us.”

According to Hansen, the conversation to have a showcase weekend began a few years ago between the league and former Bisons Manager Neil Glionna, who retired at the end of the 2012 campaign. 

Finally this past season, the conversations grew stronger and Glionna secured ice in Strathmore. The board of governors voted in favour of the Showcase Weekend last month.

“Everyone loved the idea, so it is a go,” said Hansen. “It will be in the south this year and up north next year – we’ll kind of move it north-south to those teams that want to host it. Some teams may not want to because it is a lot of work.

“With us hosting it, we’ll have some (assistance) from two of the Calgary associations who stepped up and said they would help. One is the (NW) Calgary Flames and the other is the (NE) Calgary Northstars. So we’ll form a committee and get the ball rolling.”

He added that the event would require numerous volunteers leading up to the weekend.

Hockey aside, Hansen is thrilled to have the first-ever Weekend Showcase here in Strathmore for the economic benefit it brings to town.

“It’s another big event for the town,” he said. “We suspect that 12 of the 18 teams will need hotel rooms here for the Saturday night. Then you need to feed all those hungry boys (for both days) and they can put away a lot of groceries.

“Revenue-wise, it will bring a lot of money to town.”